The higher or more
enlightened classes of the people have overlooked the petty tricks of
the Mormon leaders, to watch with more accuracy the advance and designs
of Mormonism. In Joe Smith they recognize a great man, a man of will and
energy, one who has the power of carrying everything before him, and
they fear him accordingly.
On leaving Quincy, I travelled about seventy miles through a country
entirely flat, but admirably cultivated. I passed through several little
villages and at noon of the second day I reached my destination.
CHAPTER XLII.
Nauvoo, the holy city of the Mormons, and present capital of their
empire, is situated in the north-western part of Illinois, on the east
bank of the Mississippi, in lat. 40 deg. 35' N.; it is bounded on the north,
south, and west by the river, which there forms a large curve, and is
nearly two miles wide. Eastward of the city is a beautiful undulating
prairie; it is distant ten miles from Fort Madison, in Iowa, and more
than two hundred from St. Louis.
Before the Mormons gathered there, the place was named _Commerce_, as I
have already said, and was but a small and obscure village of some
twenty houses; so rapidly, however, have they accumulated, that there
are now, within four years of their first settlement, upwards of fifteen
thousand inhabitants in the city, and as many more in its
immediate vicinity.
Pages:
539
540
541
542
543
544
545
546
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563